Thursday, May 14, 2015

Spangled Stars QAL Block 2 - Bar Block

Welcome to the Spangled Stars Quiltalong for Block 2, the Bar Block. If you're just joining in, here's the schedule:


Bar Block - May 14, 2015
Stripes and Cross - May 21, 2015
Star Block, part 1 - May 28, 2015    
Star Block, part 2 - June 4, 2015
Quilt assembly - June 11, 2015
Completed Top Linky - June 18, 2015
        Completed Quilt, Grand Parade - July 2, 2015

Now, on to the Bar Blocks!

The chart below lists the number of Bar Blocks needed for each size quilt.
                                     

# of Bar
blocks
Wall Hanging
12
Throw
32
Twin

59
Double/Full
72
Queen
84
King
98

Those are big, scary numbers! But keep in mind, this block makes up the majority of the quilt, and is really, really easy to put together. I'm making two twin size quilts, and it took two hours to cut, sew, press, sew, press, subcut, and take pictures of 59 blocks. That's a fast block!

The next chart shows how many strips to cut of the white, for the background, and the medium blue, for the bar, based on a fabric width of 40".

WOF=40”
White
background
Blue for bar
Wall Hanging
(4)  4 1/4” x WOF
(2) 2” x  WOF
Throw
(12)  4 1/4” x WOF
(6) 2” x  WOF
Twin
(20)  4 1/4” x WOF
(10) 2” x  WOF
Double/Full
(24)  4 1/4” x WOF
(12) 2” x  WOF
Queen
(28)  4 1/4” x WOF
(14) 2” x WOF
King
(32)  4 1/4” x WOF
(16) 2” x WOF

When it's all done, the block looks like this:


and measures 9 1/2" x 6 1/2".

So let's get sewing!

Cut background strips 4 1/4" wide, and medium blue strips 2" wide. I chose a darker medium blue for my project. It's definitely not my darkest blue!

Sew a blue strip to a background strip, using a scant 1/4" seam.

Press the seam to the blue, narrow strip. Sew another background strip to the other side of the blue, and again press the seam toward the blue. The strip sets should measure 9 1/2" wide.


Stack two strip sets on top of each other, carefully lining up the edges. 

Trim off an end, then subcut 6 1/2" blocks from the strip sets.


Once the required number of blocks are cut, you're done!


Congratulations! Don't forget to link up below!




3 comments:

  1. I chose a medium, darker blue, and the fabric requirements are for the medium.

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  2. Hi Susan.....if I take (2) 4.5" strips and sew (1) 2.0" strip in the middle the resulting width is 10.0" not 9.5" so do I use 4.5" strips and a 2.0" strip or not? Thanks for clarifying.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry....I've read and reread the cutting instructions and still read it wrong! Now I see it's 4.25" inches....

      Delete

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